World Baseball Classic 2026 Final Bracket Update for Venezuela vs. USA Championship

The United States will go after its second-ever World Baseball Classic title against Venezuela at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday night.

Venezuela finalized the championship matchup with a 4-2 win over Italy on Monday night. The Americans secured their spot in the final on Sunday with a victory over the Dominican Republic.

Venezuela will play in its first-ever WBC title game. Venezuela's previous best finish was third place in 2009.

The Americans will have to slow down a loaded lineup for the second straight game in order to claim the title.

Venezuela's lineup is led with power by Ronald Acuna Jr. Luis Arraez, Salvador Perez and Maikel Garcia are among the other notable bats in the lineup.

Venezuela posted 26 runs in pool play and scored another 12 in a pair of knockout-round wins over Japan and Italy.

The two wins should prepare Venezuela to deal with the pressure of the moment. After all, the South American country eliminated Japan, the reigning champion in its quarterfinal game.

Venezuela was the favorite against Italy, but it still had to come from behind to defeat the surprise of the tournament.

Team USA's pitching carried it to this point, as its offense has not put up a ton of runs on a consistent basis, like Venezuela or the Dominican Republic.

The Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper-led lineup only produced seven runs in two knockout-round games. Prior to that, the Americans posted 35 runs in four pool-play games, but they scored 24 of those runs against Brazil and Great Britain.

Nolan McLean of the Mets will get the ball for Team USA against Eduardo Rodriguez for Venezuela.

USA manager Mark DeRosa has a few key lineup decisions to make with Rodriguez, a lefty, slated to start. Alex Bregman will likely start over Gunnar Henderson at third base, while Will Smith, who hits lefties well, could start at catcher over Cal Raleigh, who struggled at the plate so far in the tournament.

A low-scoring game is likely in the cards, regardless of who starts in the lineup. Each of the last four World Baseball Classic finals featured eight runs or less. The winning side in two of those championship games scored just three runs.